A Hundred Lifetimes
by Moonlight0
Summary: My take on the end of the musical, once Radames and Aida find each other again.


**I have loved **_**Aida **_**since my friends took me to it last summer. When I saw the ending I gasped so loud the group next to us laughed I totally wasn't expecting it. From that moment on I was hooked. I wanted to expand on the end and write about the two lovers finding each other again, so this little story was born. Don't sue; I didn't make any money off of this. **

I was trying hard not to panic; the darkness was pressing down all around me and I could tell the air was running out. My breathing was ragged, my lungs were tight, and each breath was painful. Sweat dripped into my eyes making them burn and I scrabbled blindly on the ground searching for something; I couldn't remember what I was searching for but I knew I needed to find it. My searching was frantic I felt cloth and grasped it tightly; like my life depended on it. My hand traveled up the cloth but before I could find what I was really looking for my lungs seized and I knew no more.

I sat up with a gasp, my lungs screaming for air. My chest ached and my lungs burned with every breath I struggled to take; my body was drenched with sweat and panic still contorted my thoughts. I clawed at the fabric that was wrapped tightly around my body restricting my movement. I fought harder as my lungs struggled to pull in air. Suddenly I was falling, with a thump I hit the floor and the sheets that had been trying to strangle me loosened and my lungs eased as air poured into them. The panic in my mind slowly started to recede and I recognized my bedroom. I now understood that what had caused me to panic was a dream, the same dream that had been plaguing me for the last couple of days. I sighed and started to tug the sheets off the rest of my body. The dream seemed so real and every night it got harder and harder to shake off the fear. I slowly remade my bed and then climbed in. I stared at the ceiling where the moon made a pattern in silver light drawing comfort from it. My thoughts wandered and slowly my eyes grew heavy.

The next morning I awoke to my cellphone vibrating on my nightstand. "Hello?" I mumbled without looking at who was calling me or what time it was; I was still half asleep.

"Oh my Gods Ada! Are you still in bed?" My best friend Beka asked me.

"Maybe," I slurred. I let my head fall back onto my pillow with a thump.

"You forgot about the class field trip to the museum didn't you?"

"Oh no!" I cried as I jumped out of bed. Beka and I were taking an Ancient History course at the local University. All of the students taking the History class with Professor Simmons were meeting at the museum to do a walk through and pick a topic for our term papers.

"Calm down." I heard her say on the other end of the line as she suppressed a laugh. "I thought you might have forgotten since you've been so out of it lately. Its only 8 get ready and meet me at my apartment at nine thirty and we will drive together."

"Thank you." I exclaimed into the phone, "I totally owe you one!"

"No problem, and yes you do." She giggled before she hung up.

I showered; then threw on a little makeup while my hair dried. I grabbed a blue summer dress with a silver flower design out of my closet and brushed my now dry hair so it hung down my back in gentle waves. I grabbed a pair of sandals sitting by the door and my wallet on the way out. Beka lived in the building next to mine so I didn't have far to walk.

I reached her place quickly and knocked. The door flew open and Beka stood on the other side. She was wearing a pair of cute skinny jeans with a green shirt and black heels. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into a hug.

"Let me grab my purse and we'll go." She said before disappearing into the kitchen, I couldn't even take a step to follow her before she was back in sight slinging her purse over her shoulder. "I'm ready."

I laughed, "Alright, let's go."

We locked the door behind us and walked to her car. She chatted about the guys in her other classes she thought were cute and how she was hoping she would be partnered with Rem for their science project. I listened with half an ear; part of me was remembering the terror I had felt the night before.

"Ada!" Beka's voice broke through my thoughts causing me to start and look at her. "What's wrong? I said your name a couple times and you didn't hear me. You've been acting funny for a couple days. It's like your mind is somewhere completely different."

"Sorry, nothing is wrong. I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me Ada. I've known you far too long."

"I don't really want to talk about it," I told her as I turned to gaze out the window.

"Well that's too bad. You owe me; so tell me what is wrong. I care about you and you have me worried."

I turned back to her and sighed, "Fine, for the last couple of nights I've been having a weird dream. I'm stuck in the dark, there is no light at all, and the air is running out. I'm struggling to breath, but there is hardly any air. I'm searching for something but I don't know what and before I can find it I…" I trail off.

"You what?"

"I die." I looked over to see her staring out the windshield, eyes wide. She blinked twice and then swallowed.

"It's just a dream though. Right?"

"Yeah but it seems so…real."

"Well you're not going to die," She said with a forced smile and parked the car.

"Of course I'm not!" I said with a laugh, trying to ease the tension. "It's just a dream, come on lets go have fun looking at wax figures and old pots." She laughed and linked her arm with mine and we walked to the front doors.

A group of people were already gathered there. Professor Simmons walked out of the front doors clapping his hands together.

"Alright people, remember you are here to get ideas about your term paper. You need to pick an artifact and then write about why it was important to the time period and why it was significant enough to be included in the museum. Have fun!"

Beka and I glanced at each other before erupting in to giggles. We joined the throng heading into the museum.

"What do you want to look at first?" Beka asked me.

I glanced around. "Let's start with the Mayan ruins." We spent the next hour going from one exhibit to the next. Beka had a couple of ideas on what she wanted to write about, but I couldn't find anything I was remotely interested in.

"Oooh, let's go in there." Beka squealed, she grabbed my arm and hauled me toward a room with a sign above it that read, "Ancient Egypt". I rolled my eyes, Beka had been fascinated with Egyptian history since our class had started, frankly I wasn't all that interested in it. When we walked in to the room I froze. Right in front of me was a display with a wax figure of women in it. She was dressed in finery and holding the symbols of power in her hands. The sign in front of her read, "_Pharaoh Amneris, a beloved ruler that ended the war between Egypt and Nubia. Amneris, a long time follower of the latest fashion began trading fabrics and dyes with the Nubian people after the war. She is depicted here not long after she took the throne."_

Other Egyptian artifacts filled the room. I turned to follow Beka but once again froze. An old Egyptian tomb stood right in front of me. I stared into the darkness of the tomb and shuddered. I pulled my gaze away from it to see a young man also staring into it, a slight frown on his face. I turned the other way and walked behind the tomb looking at the other artifacts, intent on finding Beka, yet I found my feet carrying me back to the front of the tomb. I glanced into the dark shadows again, feeling the darkness of my dream pressing down on me. I gasped and ripped my gaze away, I found myself looking into the brown eyes of the man that had been standing next to me. I blushed and looked away; he probably thought I was crazy; an old artifact scaring a grown woman. I started to walk by and stopped, an odd sense of deju vu crossing my mind. I turned back to see him staring at me, that frown once again on his face. The frown slowly turned into a look of shock and then hope, "Aida?" he whispered.

As the name crossed his lips I was thrust into a swirl of memories; memories that had been locked away until that moment. I stood on the deck of ship, the wind blowing my hair back as I looked at the Nile River gliding underneath the boat. I played in a courtyard with other children when Egyptian soldiers burst through the gates sending people running in a panic. I sat in a sitting room with other women as we worked on a dress. I stood on the banks of a river with a woman that looked a lot like Beka; we looked over the land, happy to be out of the village. I heard someone scream and I turned to see Egyptian soldiers bearing down on us. More memories flashed in my mind. The captain of the Egyptian army sitting in front of me as I tried to scrub the skin off his back, putting all my hate and anger in to my movements. I stood with Princess Amneris, discussing the newest fashion trend, I saw the Nubian slaves bowing at my feet asking for my help. The memories came faster, Radames pulling me in for the first kiss we would share in the dark, Nehebka being taken away and killed in my place. Radames cutting the rope so my father could escape. Bowing at the Pharaohs' feet as his daughter declared we would be buried together. Then the scene from my dream, crushing darkness, thin air, and my searching fingers; only this time I knew. I knew what I was looking for; I was looking for Radames hand.

The memories released me and with a gasp I staggered forward. The man caught me by the arms, helping me regain my balance. I looked up into his eyes, I could feel my bottom lip trembling and my eyes filled with tears. "Radames, you kept your promise."

He pulled me into a tight hug and kissed the top of my head. "I told you I'd find you again, even if it took me a hundred lifetimes."

**I am going to write another chapter, this time from Radames point of view. I might even expand their relationship further once they find each other again. I haven't decided yet, but keep your eyes out for the next chapter. Let me know what you think!**

**Aida-Ada  
Nehebka-Beka  
Mereb-Rem  
Those are the only names I changed in this chapter**.


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